Was 'Moana' Snubbed By The 2017 Oscars?

There have been very few Disney movies in the history of Disney movies that I haven't liked, but after seeing Moana when it hit theaters last year, I may officially have a new favorite. Not only is Moana a strong female character who's all about finding her own way in the world, but I still have the soundtrack playing on repeat. So naturally, I was excited to find out that the movie snagged a few nominations at the 2017 Oscars, but I wasn't sure if it would overtake the other awesome movies in its categories. At Sunday night's Oscars, Moana didn't win the award for Best Animated Film, instead losing to another Disney favorite: Zootopia.

As someone who saw (and loved) both Moana and Zootopia, I was pretty surprised that Moana didn't snag this one. I would have predicted it would take the win, but apparently, the Academy had other plans in mind. But does it count as a snub? In this case, I don't think so. It's not as though Moana was bested by an inferior movie — Zootopia was also a really great film with an important message, and it earned this win fair and square. I hate to say that, because it pains me that the adorable Auli'i Cravalho didn't get another reason to appear on stage, but it's true.

Even though Moana had a great message — and finally gave us another woman of color as a Disney female lead — Zootopia's message was awesome, too, especially in the world we live in right now. I loved that it showed how necessary acceptance is in keeping society functioning. Unfortunately, it did not feature amazing music from Lin-Manuel Miranda, but what are you going to do?

I'm bummed that Moana didn't take this one, but glad to see that it went to another movie that was just as deserving. And as for Cravalho? She's 16 and performed at the Oscars on Sunday night. I'd say she's doing OK, too.